Bedford Walsinghams

The Bedford Walsinghams were a family of mixed English and African descent that lived in Bedford Park, New York during the 17th century. The family originated with the settler Peyton Walsingham (1641-1708) of Bristol, England and his slave Drusilla (1649-1703) of Ghana, both of whom were counted among the six original settlers of the town. Their marriage was one of the first recorded interracial marriages in New England, and the pair's children varied in skin tones. The family was a rare case of an upper-class biracial family in the colonial era, as they enjoyed prosperity due to being one of the oldest families in Bedford Park, while they were also looked down upon due to their mixed-race heritage. The Walsinghams lived in Bedford Park for centuries, and the last recorded descendant, Charles Walsingham, was killed in action at the Second Battle of Bull Run in 1862 during the American Civil War.